Chasteberry

The chasteberry or chaste berry tree is actually a medium sized silver foliaged shrub that blooms with dense groups of purple flowers. The chaste berry herbs and chaste berry extract produced from the plant is often marketed as Vitex and is reported to assist with many female health issues including minimizing premenstrual syndrome discomfort, assisting with hormonal regulation for women and even assisting in fertilization and pregnancy.

The chaste berry and the vitex tree is native to Western Asia and Europe and is now found in most of the southern and southeastern states in the United States. The tree, or more correctly shrub, is very decorative, and many people don't know of the herbal properties that the chaste berries themselves contain.

Vitex, the extract from of the herbal product is readily available in most health food stores or online. Vitex chasteberry is available in liquid, capsule and tablet form, and the vitex side effects are very mild, very rarely including dry-mouth, dizziness, stomach discomfort and fatigue. It is important to be aware that there are other uses for chasteberry. In horses, Cushing's Disease in particular, the herb can be used to treat the abnormal hormonal levels and keep the disease under control without the high cost of daily injections.

For women, chasteberry pms treatments are often the most dramatic. Since the herb has a hormonal regulation effect, there is an almost immediate decrease in the symptoms of pms including irritability, sore breasts, and irregular menstrual cycles. Taking vitrex may help you get pregnant as well, again due to the control of the hormonal imbalances that may be preventing conception. If you are currently taking clomid, vitex is not recommended as they may interfer with each other, reducing pregnancy changes.

Vitex can also be used to manage the symptoms of endometriosis. It is important to closely monitor the vitex endometriosis dosage and make adjustments as your body adjusts to the herbal treatment. As with any herbal remedy there will be a period of slight improvement followed by long-term treatment to notice consistent improvement in the pain and discomfort associated with this condition. Your doctor should be involved in determining the dosage and ensuring that the chaste berry herb is not interfering with any hormonal treatments he or she may be prescribing.